The Thief Lord (Only major new character: Lora Jackson)
by alliebird1
Summary: This is a tragic love story between the Thief Lord and Lora Jackson, a young Assassin. I couldn't put three crossovers, so I'll just tell you, the other crossover is The Children of the Red King series.
1. Prologue: One Year Earlier

Lora Jackson gathered with her dorm mates at the window. Guards were setting up the gallows in the front yard of Bloor's Academy. Lora gasped as she saw who were being hanged: her mom, dad, and twin little brother and sister. Lora bit her lip. She tugged at her hood and turned to her best friend, Amelia Marston.

"Amelia," she said, "I need to save my family."

"But how? You'll be seen."

Lora pointed right below the dorm window, "See that haystack down there? Well, I put that there years ago and, amazingly, no one has bothered to move it. Once I get down there, I'll blend with the crowd."

Amelia understood what her friend was going to do, but more questions formed in her head, "Where are you going to go?"

Lora shook her head, "I'm sorry, Amelia," she replied sadly, "But I can't tell you that. I don't want Manfred to hypnotize you and then find out the information," she paused, "There is one occasion that I would come back to London for."

"What's that?"

"Sorry, but I can't tell you that either. Good-bye, Amelia." Lora and Amelia hugged for the last time, and Lora did a Leap of Faith into the haystack below. As she was blending in with the crowd, Lora was quite grateful for her hood, so no one would see her tears as her four-year-old brother and sister cried out her name. Then silence…

"No!" She screamed.

The guards heard it, "The Assassin, get her!" Lora ran, killing any guard that got in her way. As she was running, something surprised her; Lora's Eagle Vision didn't mature. Eagle Vision matures when the worst thing that will ever happen in your life occurs. _What could be worse than losing my whole family?_ Lora thought. Lora's maid could predict little bits of the future. She had told Lora that her Eagle Vision would mature over a boy. At the time Lora just laughed. Her, dating? Fat chance.

Lora had ran out of the clutches of Templar guards for a year since the death of her family. She only stopped once she had gotten on a boat that took her to Venezia (Venice).

When Lora got to Venezia, she checked out some wanted posters, "500,000 florins. Nice," she grinned. Lora pulled down the wanted poster, tore it to pieces, and through it in a wastebasket. Lora searched Venezia for a place to stay while taking wanted posters down. Finally she found a place she was looking for: a theater called The Stella.


	2. The Thief Lord

**The Thief Lord**

I awoke to six faces over me. They were all children. The youngest looked about five, a year older than my brother and sister. He had curly angle blonde hair that almost touched his shoulders and adorable blue eyes. Next to him was another boy, this one with brown hair and brown eyes, and he had a protective arm around the younger one. On the other side of the little blonde boy was a girl, the only girl in the group. She had long brown hair in a thin braid that went down to her hips, and intelligent eyes, it looked like she did a lot of reading. There were three other boys. One with short spiky hair that made him look like a human hedgehog. Another had beautifully black skin, and the last one, the most intimidating, had a black Venetian doctor's mask in my face. I reached for the mask to judo flip him. He grabbed my arm to stop me.

The hedgehog boy was the first to speak, "What were you going to do to the Thief Lord?"

I raised an eyebrow, "The Thief Lord? Well, I was going to judo flip him from his mask that he has in my face."

"How were you going to do that?" the hedgehog boy asked.

"Let me show you," I reached for his mask again, but the boy stood.

"Let's not."

I shrugged, "Okay. You guys don't look very intimidating," I sat up, put my hood down, and ran my fingers through my long, wavy brown hair. I noticed the boy with the mask staring at me. I looked at the others instead, "Does anyone know what time it is?"

"Two o'clock in the morning," answered the black boy, "By the way, I'm Mosca, that's Riccio," he pointed at the hedgehog boy, "Hornet," the girl, "and Prosper and Bo," the last boy and the blonde one. Prosper pushed Bo behind him. It seemed like a brotherly move. Something I had done very often to my own siblings before they were hanged.

"Two o'clock?" I cried, "That would mean that I slept for…" I counted the time in my head, "Twenty hours!"

"Twenty hours?" Riccio asked, "How does someone sleep for that long?"

"Apparently it's pretty easy when you haven't slept for a year," I replied.

"That's a long time isn't it?" Bo stepped out from behind Prosper.

I smiled at him, "Yes, it is. But I've been so stupid! Sleeping that long. I could have been killed!" I scolded myself. "Anyway, what's your name, Thief Lord?"

"Scipio."

"Last name?"

"Doesn't matter. What's _your_ name?"

"Lora."

"Last name?"

"Doesn't matter," I replied smugly.

"Using my own words against me, eh?" Scipio gestured to my armor, "What are you?"

"I'm an Assassin. Wanted for 500,000 florins," I said proudly.

Scipio took off his mask. He had handsome dark, almost black, eyes, and raven black hair. "Then you'll be perfect here."

"Scipio, she's a wanted Assassin. What happens if the guards come here?" Prosper interjected.

I looked at him, appalled, "Why then, I would just kill them. And, of course, loot them for money, ammo, medicine for injuries, or weapons that are possibly better than mine."

"Anyway," Scipio continued an earlier conversation, "About the loot. I had a change of plans. Read this," he handed Riccio a newspaper.

"Amazing break-in at the Palazzo Contarini," he read, "Valuable jewelry and various pieces of art stolen. No sign of the perpetrators," Riccio lifted his head in surprise, "Contarini? But we looked at the Pisani."

Scipio shrugged, "So what? The Pisani comes later," he held a bag in front of Riccio's face and dumped out the contents, "I already sold the jewels. I had a few debts to pay and I needed some new equipment, but the rest is yours." I narrowed my eyes. _I_ was the one who stole those things from the Palazzo Contarini. I still had the jewelry to prove it, but I decided to wait until I could get Scipio alone.

Bo picked up the items very carefully as if they might crumble to dust in his tiny fingers, "Is it gold?"

"Gold, silver, bronze. All stolen from grown-up custody," Scipio said, "Go to Barbarossa's tomorrow to sell the loot. And try to get a decent price this time," he pleaded.

"But he's just too smart for us," Mosca said.

"Yes. And I think he is secretly laughing at us," Hornet agreed.

"Prop can do it," Bo said, "When we were selling my old toys at the flea market, they tried to give us peanuts, but Prop just put on a stony face and declined until they gave us money."

"Shut up, Bo," Prosper had gone pink.

Scipio smiled, "Okay. You and Riccio ca-"

"I could go too," I interrupted, "Add a bit of fear into this Barbarossa. Possibly get you some bonus money."

Scipio nodded, "Do it. I've got to go now, but I'll be back tomorrow." And with that, he left.

I was about to follow when Hornet asked, "Where are you going?"

"Out." Once I had found Scipio with my Eagle Vision, I grabbed his arm. He jumped, "You didn't steal those things from the Contarini."

"How do you know?" he asked.

"Because _I_ did," I pulled out the jewelry, "I haven't sold the jewels yet," I slipped them back into my pocket.

"What do I need to do to keep you quiet, Assassin?" Scipio began inching closer to me. I watched his movements cautiously. Then he kissed me.

I pushed him away, "You've got nerve, idioto (idiot)." I turned on my heels and began to walk away. I stopped, looked over my shoulder, and smiled. I just got a boyfriend.

I walked back into The Stella, and Prosper was the first to notice me, "Were you trying to follow Scipio?"

"No, if I had, I wouldn't have been caught."

Hornet looked up from her book, "Oh, I know that face."

"What?"

"You've got a crush on Scipio!" she laughed.

"_What?!_ No! Shut up," I could feel my face burning.

"The Assassin and the Thief Lord walking in the moonlight of Venezia," Riccio teased, "Did you kiss him?"

"No, as-a-matter-of-fact, _he_ kissed _me_. Now, good night," I snapped.


	3. Ernesto Barbarossa

**Ernesto Barbarossa**

In the morning, Prosper, Riccio, and I went to Ernesto Barbarossa's shop to sell the loot. Barbarossa was a very fat man. He was completely bald except for the full fox fur colored beard that he had. The shop was full of lame curios that were _way_ over priced.

"What are you looking at, hedgehog boy?" Barbarossa snapped, "Go into the office. And don't touch anything, do you hear?"

_Of course we can hear you, with you yelling your head off,_ I thought as I followed Riccio and Prosper into Barbarossa's office. I let Prosper and Riccio sit in the two chairs that were in front of the mahogany desk and I stood behind them.

"Okay, let the dog see the bone," Barbarossa sighed. Prosper dumped the loot onto the table. Barbarossa picked each object up, looked at it, the put it back down. He did that over and over until I started drawing simple Assassin's symbols on the wooden floor.

"Stop that!" He barked.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because I said so!"

"That's not a very good reason," I said, still drawing the symbols on the floor.

He winced and looked at the boys, "You have some pretty decent items today," he said looking at some sugar tongs with a glint of greed in his pudgy, piggy eyes, "So, I'll give you…10,000." Riccio gasped. I rolled my eyes, though no one could see it, and Prosper kept a straight face. "Which is very generous," Barbarossa continued, "But let's just say, I'm in a generous mood today," he looked at me again, "Wait a second," his eyes widened, "you're the Assassin wanted for 500,000 florins!"

I calmly walked up to Barbarossa. Then my right hand shot to his neck. I held my hidden blade to his throat, "Say a word, and you're dead," I said in a quiet, dangerous tone. He gulped and nodded.

"Now, Prop?" I stepped back to let Prosper begin his magic.

He kept his stony face and began, "50,000 or no deal."

Barbarossa leaned forward, "Have you gone mad, _boy_? Here I am, giving you a generous offer, too generous, and you give me fanciful numbers."

Prosper just got up and started packing the loot back into the bag. When he reached for the sugar tongs, though, Barbarossa snatched them off the table.

"You're smart, boy. Too smart for my liking, so I'll give you…" he paused for a dramatic effect, which I rolled my eyes at, "40,000. Now leave! I don't want you little thieves to know where my safe is." We walked out of the office back into the shop.

When we got out, Riccio gripped Prosper's arms, "Prop, Scipio won't let _anyone_ sell his loot ever again! No one can ever get even a single florin off of Barbarossa, much less 30,000 more!"

I laughed, "Yeah, great job, Prop. Though those things were worth much more."

Prosper nodded. He looked at a statuette, "Riccio, Lora? Do you remember how much we sold that statue for?"

I shook my head, "I wasn't even _in _Venezia yet."

"You know I can't remember numbers," Riccio reminded him.

"Well, now it has two more zeros on the end of it."

I looked at the price tag, "That's outrageous!"

At that moment, Barbarossa walked in with a bag of coin, "Here you go. No need to count it, it's all there. I just deducted the amount of the glass beetle your little brother broke last time."

"He did not!" Prosper argued.

"Oh yes he did," he handed Prosper the pouch, "And try not to get robbed on the way back."

I shrugged, "I'll just kill those who try to rob us, then loot them and get even _more_ money."

We were about to leave the shop when Barbarossa grabbed mine and Riccio's shoulder, "One more thing." I pushed his hand off of my shoulder. "A client of mine is looking for someone to –let's say—_procure_ something for him. Mention it to the Thief Lord. Let him know that there is a great deal of money in for it."

"Yeah, sure," Riccio said simply, but Prosper and I exchanged nervous looks. Neither of us trusted the redbeard. We were determined not to let Scipio know about this job.


	4. The Detective

As soon as we had left Barbarossa's shop, Riccio dragged Prosper and me to the pasticceria (pastry shop) that was right next to the shop, "Can we get some, please?" Riccio begged, "We need to celebrate our _amazing_ victory!"

I shook my head, "We should get back to the others first before spending any of the money." But, of course, Riccio didn't listen. He walked right in. Prosper and I exchanged amused looks and followed Riccio into the pasticceria. The waitress patiently took his order, and we waited for the cakes to be ready.

I was quite amazed of how much care the Venetian bakers put into their cakes. And not just the cakes, but the box too. They didn't just put the cake in a bag that said "thank you" on it; they covered the box in colorful paper and added a ribbon. Prosper took some of the money out of the bag and gave it to the waitress. When we got back outside, Riccio tore at the beautiful paper and ribbon like he didn't even see the beauty.

"I thought these were for the others too," Prosper said.

"There will still be plenty for them," Riccio already had chocolate on his nose.

Prosper shrugged and grabbed a cake that had been lightly dusted with powdered sugar. As soon as he took his first bite, powdered sugar spilled down his jacked, "You want one, Lora?" he asked in between bites.

"No thanks," I replied, "I only eat things that I have seen being made or I make myself. There's a chance that someone recognized me in the shop." I looked at a cake that had been decorated with white roses and my stomach growled. I looked at Prosper, he had heard it, and he was trying not to laugh. "Oh, crap to this," I grabbed the cake and took a bite, it was quite good. It was a yellow cake, my favorite. It reminded me of my childhood. Every one of my birthdays I had yellow cake with vanilla frosting.

"Taste any poison, Lora?" Riccio teased.

"Just shut up, Riccio."

As we continued walking back to The Stella, Riccio noticed one of my wanted posters, "Hey, Lora? Is this you?" I bit my lip nervously; it had my last name on it as well as my first: Jackson.

Prosper looked at the wanted poster, then back at me, "Isn't that the name of the former princess of England?"

I crossed my arms defiantly, "And the name of the rightful heir of the English throne."

Riccio looked at me in awe as I tore the poster to pieces, "So you're a princess?"

"Technically a queen since my family was killed."

"I never really understood why they were killed," Prosper admitted.

I looked at the brilliant, bright blue sky, "We were accused of treason for no reason," I looked back at the boys, anger filling inside of me, "But my bastard cousin, Daniel Jackson, betrayed us. I never liked him, and never will. He became a Templar, the Assassins' sworn enemies. His greed destroyed all the peace in England. He had innocent four-year-olds hanged…in front of me!" I looked down at my boots, tears filling in my eyes, "And not just any four-year-olds, they were my little brother and sister." It was pretty embarrassing, but I sat on the nearest empty bench and cried. Prosper and Riccio didn't know what to say, so they sat on either side of me. Prosper put a hand on my shoulder.

I looked up and wiped my eyes, "I'm sorry, guys. Must be kind of weird seeing an infamous Assassin crying her head off, but it was just so terrible, the twins were crying my name, knowing that I was there."

"How did they know? Did they see you?" Riccio asked.

I shook my head, "No, but the gallows were put in front of my school, Bloor's Academy."

"And the headmaster went with it?" Prosper asked angrily.

I looked at him, "Of course he did. He and his family are Templars as well, and his son, Manfred Bloor, was the worst," I pulled a piece of paper out of one of my pouches.

"What's that?" Riccio looked at all the names on the paper, "Valaresso and Massimo are the only names I recognize."

"This is a list with all the Templar family names," I explained, "They are all responsible for my family's deaths."

"Wait a second," Riccio stopped reading the names, "Are you saying that the Massimos are _Templars_?"

"Well, at least Adolfo Massimo is. He's Captain of the Templar Guard in Italia (Italy)," I replied, "I'm not sure about the rest of the family, though," I stood up, "Come on, we should get back."

"What do you think about the job?" Riccio asked us.

"Not much," Prosper replied, "I don't trust the redbeard, he could be tricking us."

"I agree with Prop. The only things I _am_ thinking about the job are bad things," I said.

Prosper nodded absentmindedly. He walked around a couple of large ladies, and then bumped into a man with a quite thick walrus mustache, "Scusi (excuse me)," Prosper muttered. The walrus man stared at Prosper, wide eyed; Prosper stared back. Then he ran. My first instinct was to run after Prosper, so that's what I did.

Riccio head butted the man and chased after us, "Hey! Why are you running?" he called. Prosper and I turned into an alley.

He grabbed Riccio and hid in a doorway, "That man looked at me funny."

"So what?" Riccio asked.

"I think he's after me."

"Why would he be after you? Did you steal something?"

"No! You know I don't steal unless I have to," Prosper reminded him.

"He could be after Lora," Riccio looked around, "Hey, where is Lora?"

I had climbed onto the roof of the building, "Up here!" I called just loud enough for them to hear me, "It could be possible that he was after me, but the man looked at Prop, not me." I continued to scan the crowd, then I saw the walrus mustache. I pointed to him, "Look, there! He's in that crowd of nobles closest to us."

Prosper and Riccio leaned forward to see. Riccio gasped and pushed Prosper back into the doorway, "I know him," he leaned forward again, this time to be seen by the man. Riccio and Prosper began to run. I jumped off the roof after them.

"Who is he?" Prosper asked as we were running through the alleys.

"Some sort of private detective who works for the tourists to find missing handbags and stuff," Riccio explained, "Almost caught me once. Victor the Snoop they call him. He likes to dress up."

We made a left turn, "A nave passaggeri (passenger boat) is just leaving. If we hurry we can jump on and lose the snoop," I suggested.

"Good idea, Lora," Prosper agreed. We hopped on board. We pushed through the crowd of people to the back of the nave passaggeri. We saw the snoop at the edge of the platform. Riccio waved but Prosper put Riccio's hands down and shook his head.

We got off at the next stop, "Well, this doesn't make our journey back any shorter," I said.

"But at least we lost the snoop," Riccio said.

Prosper nodded, "Yeah, though the others probably think that we split the money and left them."

I looked at my watch, "Crap. We need to hurry, I didn't realize how long we had been gone."

"Riccio," Prosper grabbed Riccio's shoulder, "Can we please not tell Scipio about the job? Lora and I have a bad feeling about it."

"Yeah, sure," Riccio shrugged.


	5. Scipio's Answer

"Where have you guys been?" Hornet demanded as she opened the door.

Riccio was about to answer but I cut him off, "We got held up."

Prosper, understanding where I was going with this, added, "Well, technically _Lora_ got held up."

I adjusted my sword and knife in embarrassment, "Yeah, got distracted by a few guards," I lied.

"A bit more than a few, Lora," Riccio said.

Hornet sighed, "Okay, fine. At least you're here. Scipio's been waiting."

"Oh, I was hoping he would be here later," I put my hood down.

When we got in, Scipio was fiddling with his mask, "Finally. I was starting to wonder if you had run off with the money."

I crossed my arms, "Seriously? You really think we would do that?"

Scipio shrugged, "It's possible."

I marched up to him, "Oh really? So are you saying that you don't trust me?"

"I didn't say that," he protested.

"Well it sure sounded like it," I turned my back to him.

"Couple fight," Mosca teased.

"Shut up!" Scipio and I yelled at him.

"Who said we were a couple?" Scipio demanded.

"Well, you two kissed," Bo giggled, "Doesn't that make someone a couple?" Scipio and I exchanged looks. His face was just as red as mine. The rest of the gang started laughing.

I quickly changed the subject, "Look how much money we got," I took the bag from Prosper and handed it to Scipio.

He dumped out the coins, wide eyed, "Wow, I can't believe how much money you got," He noticed the cake box in Riccio's hands, "What's in the box?"

"Oh, cakes," Riccio opened it, "The rest are yours. Prosper, Lora, and I have already had our cakes."

They each grabbed a cake, once we were all seated on the floor, Scipio spoke, "After a raid like this, I think I'll take a little break."

Riccio stood up, "But you can't stop, not now. Barbarossa has a customer looking for a thief to steal something. According to the red beard, there's a lot of money in for it." Prosper and I exchanged a glance, then I looked at Scipio; I didn't like the look on his face.

"I'll do it," he said, "Lora, go to Barbarossa's tomorrow and give him my answer." I nodded slowly. I didn't like the sound of it.

**Sorry this chapter was so short, but my last chapter was longer, so I decided to make this one shorter.**


	6. The Love Pledge

I was about to leave to do some hunting (killing guards), when Scipio grabbed my hand. I jumped, "Lora, I'm sorry," Scipio hung his head, "I was just worried about you."

"Worried about _me_?" I smiled, "How sweet, Scipio. That's not the only reason you need to talk to me is it?" I guessed, reading his expression.

Scipio nodded, "Come with me," he led me outside into the cold.

He looked extremely embarrassed, "What is it, Scipio?" I kissed him.

"I wanted to give you this," he pulled out an amulet.

"Is that something you stole?" I raised an eyebrow.

He shook his head, "No. It was my mother's before she died. Then she gave it to me. She traveled a lot," Scipio explained, "She got this when she went to Egypt. It's a shen, it means 'eternity'," he put it around my neck, "I want to give it to you, it symbolizes our love. Our love will be for eternity."

I examined it. It had a bronze hoop with a line beneath it. I looked at Scipio, "I love you," I kissed him again, this time a long, meaningful kiss, "I will cherish this forever, Scipio." He smiled, I stared at his dark brown eyes for, I don't even know how long, but it was the greatest moment of my life. He said goodbye and I watched him jump from rooftop to rooftop. After he had gone, I began my hunt.

I spent hours killing guards and looting them, but, of course, I wasn't focused, so a brute guard got a hit on me. I screamed in pain as the ax seeped into my right arm. I kicked him and killed him with me sword. I was able to detach the ax from my arm, with much pain. I threw my broken armor into a wastebasket and tore off a piece of my robes to act as a bandage. I gritted my teeth as I pushed up my right sleeve and tied the make shift bandage onto my arm. Then I walked to a blacksmith to get some new armor.

"What can I do for you, Assassin?" the blacksmith asked.

"I need a replacement for my right shoulder armor, my current one was damaged beyond repair."

"No problama (problem), Assassin, I have a new _set_ of armor available of you would like to take a look at it," the blacksmith suggested.

"Sure," examined the armor and bought it, selling the rest of my old armor, "Grazie (thank you)." I didn't put on the right shoulder armor until I was out of sight of anyone because I didn't want anyone to see I was injured. Then I made my way back to The Star-Palace.

When I walked in, I found Hornet and Prosper talking, "What's up, guys?"

"We were talking about the detective," Prosper answered, "What happened to your robs and it looks like you have different armor," he observed.

I looked down at the part that I had torn, "Oh, that. I just had a little accident with some guards. I'm perfectly fine though," I quickly added seeing Prosper and Hornet's horrified faces, "And about the armor, I went to a blacksmith and got some new armor. I sold the old ones," I explained putting half of the money I got that night into the money box.

"So, Lora," Hornet said, "Do you agree with Prop that the detective was after him?"

I nodded, "I seemed so, and he looked at Prop really strangely. The look I identify as recognition, and I have had enough experience with _that_ look," looked at their tired faces, "You two should get to bed, and you should see your faces." I began to clean my weapons without moving my right arm, luckily Hornet and Prosper didn't seem to notice anything strange.


	7. The Message

The next morning, I went to Barbarossa's to deliver the Thief Lord's answer just as I was told.

When I walked in, Barbarossa examined me greedily, "Is your master's loot small enough for your pockets?"

"I'm not here to sell anything, Barbarossa," I snapped, "I'm here to let you know that the Thief Lord accepts your client's job."

"Aw, good, good," Barbarossa rubbed his hands together; "You will meet him in the Basilica, Basilica San Marco; in the last confessional on the left. You will call him the Conte, understood?"

"Does that mean he is a _real_ conte?" I asked skeptically.

"Of course it does!" Barbarossa barked, "He is part of one of the oldest families in Italia. He is a Valaresso."

My eyes widened, "He's a Valaresso?"

"Are you deaf?" he screeched, "I just said he was a Valaresso, so that is what he is."

"What time?" I asked.

"Three o'clock sharp. The Conte is a very punctual man, so be on time," Barbarossa snapped.

"Okay, Basilica San Marco, last confessional on the left, three o'clock sharp. Got it," I was about to leave but Barbarossa stopped me.

"One more thing, Assassin, the Thief Lord can bring anyone he wants with him, but your master has to be there in person," Barbarossa added.

I crossed my arms, "The Thief Lord won't like that at all."

Barbarossa shrugged, "Well, he'll have to, or else he doesn't get the job."

As I walked out of the shop, I stopped to look at a guard that was in an overseer's armor. I smiled, walked up to him, and stabbed him with my hidden blade, only to have spots dance in my eyes from pain, I had forgotten about my injured arm. I unsheathed my sword and defended myself from the rest of the guards. I managed to kill the m all. I looted them. I got 10,000 florins from the overseer. I decided that it was worth it. _I'll be able to add over 5,000 florins to the money box in The Stella,_ I thought.

Normally, I'm able to hide all the dead bodies of the guards I had killed, but I couldn't do that with one arm, so I decided to let other guards deal with it, _I'll be long gone by the time more guards get here, _I thought, _So no more fighting today._

Riccio opened the emergency exit to The Stella, "How did it go?"

"Barbarossa was an annoying git as usual, but otherwise it went quite well."

The bell rang again and Mosca opened it without asking for the password, he got quite a telling off from Scipio until I interrupted by explaining to Scipio about my time at Barbarossa's, "Won't it be a problem with you showing yourself to the Conte?" I asked.

"It won't matter," Scipio said, "And we need that money, so we'll all go tomorrow. It should be interesting."

For dinner, I made spaghetti. When I came out with the pot, Scipio noticed that I wasn't carrying anything or even _moving_ anything with my right arm, "Lora?"

"Hmm?"

"What's wrong with your arm?"

"Oh, crap," I muttered, "Guards."

Hornet gasped, "That's why your robes are torn, you must have made a make shift bandage. And you told Prop and me that you were perfectly fine!" she scolded me.

I finished dishing everyone pasta and sat down. I began to take off my shoulder armor again with much pain. I put the armor down and looked at the area that the brute had cut; the blood had seeped through the bandage and had soaked my sleeve. I gently pushed the sleeve up and took off the bandage. Everyone winced. Prosper put a hand over Bo's eyes.

"Jeez, Lora!" Mosca exclaimed, "You've been living life with _that_ for a day?"

I winced in pain as I cleaned the wound again, "Yes and my whole arm would have been cut off by that brute if my armor hadn't been there."

Scipio shook out of his shock, "Lora, I told you to be careful!"

I blushed, "I was distracted last night," I gripped the amulet Scipio had given me that same night.

"Oh…well um, everyone get ready for tomorrow. We've got a Conte to talk to," Scipio said cheerfully.


End file.
